Protesters Lobby Against Immigration Overhaul Bills
By Gillian Gaynair, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Feb. 6–RICHMOND — As House lawmakers prepared to debate several immigration bills Monday, a small group of people from Virginia Beach joined a rally to oppose legislation that they say would divide neighbors and undermine community policing programs.
About 70 people protested on Capitol Square after a news conference that ended a four-day hunger strike and kicked off Latino Lobby Day here.
Activists carried a sign that read: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
“I used to feel so proud every time I went out of the country and came back,” said Miguel Lopez, an owner of Hampton Roads’ Plaza Azteca Mexican Restaurant and a U.S. citizen. “Now I feel like we’re being hunted, and it’s created resentment.”
Many state legislators have said they are concerned that illegal immigrants are draining public finances, taking away resources from U.S. citizens and legal residents and threatening public safety. Frustrated with the federal government’s inability to pass comprehensive immigration reform, many elected leaders in Virginia and other states are pushing their own laws.
At a morning news conference led by the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations, speakers expressed their opposition to the following bills,
— HB1970, which would make it a misdemeanor to be in Virginia if in the country unlawfully. The legislation was tentatively approved Monday on the House floor.
— HB2937, which would prohibit charitable, educational and other organizations from receiving public funds to help ineligible people, such as illegal immigrants. The House passed the bill last week and it has moved on to the Senate.
— HB2623, which would deny in-state tuition to Virginia students who can’t prove they are in the country legally. The legislation was approved in the House and referred to a Senate committee last week.
“We don’t support the legalization of ignorance,” Gabriela Benavides, a 19-year-old community college student in Richmond and originally from Ecuador, said in response to the tuition proposal.
“We’re not criminals. We’re just people that want to succeed in life and who want to be able to pursue higher education.”
Benavides and others on Monday expressed support for SB1204, which would allow immigrants who have lived in Virginia for three years and are in the process of getting permanent residency to be eligible for in-state tuition rates. The bill was passed by the Senate last month and referred to the House Education Committee.
At the rally, Beatriz Amberman, vice chairwoman of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s Virginia Latino Advisory Board, said that much of this year’s immigration-related legislation would create fear in and divide communities, as well as make “immigration agents” out of teachers, pastors and doctors.
— Reach Gillian Gaynair at (804) 697-1580 or gillian.gaynair@pilotonline.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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